MBA Programs Set to Grow Through 2030
Credit: Hispanolistic / Getty Images- Enrollment in MBA programs is projected to grow through 2030, according to a report from Validated Insights.
- That follows a lengthy period of decline.
- The report also found that a growing number of online programs means decreasing enrollment figures for individual schools.
- Return on investment and affordability are key to enrollment growth, according to the report.
Enrollment in master of business administration (MBA) programs is rising, and new research from the higher ed consulting firm Validated Insights projects that the uptrend will continue.
In fact, Validated Insights projects MBA enrollment will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2% through 2030. That follows a decline in MBA enrollments at a compound rate of 2.3% between 2018 and 2024, and a slightly lesser rate of decline between 2008 and 2018.
Brady Colby, head of market research at Validated Insights, told BestColleges that the MBA has long been seen as “counter-cyclical,” meaning that, like other degrees, it tends to excel in a tight labor market.
But there’s another factor driving demand: Colby pointed to the high return on investment (ROI) the degree offers.
“We’re kind of early on in the demand curve of things where we start to see employers demand some more of these, and then prospective students start to understand there’s real career prospects with this,” Colby said.
“There’s real ROI with this program, and that induces more future demand.”
While Validated Insights found that total MBA job postings have decreased since early 2022, that trend appears to be reversing. The total number of job openings declined 10.8% while MBA job postings grew 35.6% between October 2023 and October 2024.
The strong job market in 2021 and 2022 also caused a number of prospective MBA students to delay or rethink their education, Validated Insights found, meaning that those prospective students might head to business school in the coming years.
Validated Insights used data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), and other sources to assess the growing demand for MBAs. This research builds on the GMAC findings of a dramatic increase in applications to graduate business programs after several years of decline, BestColleges previously reported.
A number of individual programs, including the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, have reported individual growth.
“More applications means more of everything,” Evan Bouffides, senior associate dean of graduate programs at Olin, previously told BestColleges.
“And while we did increase our class size, we didn’t increase it by double. We increased it by 25%, so that creates a fair amount of flexibility, too.”
Online vs. In-Person MBA Students
Prospective MBA students often cite flexibility and a desire for some in-person elements when looking for an MBA program, but Validated Insights found a decreasing interest in hybrid education.
The percentage of prospective MBA students who preferred a hybrid MBA format in 2018 was 36%, but, as of 2023, that figure had declined to 18%. Preferred interest in online learning, meanwhile, surged from 22% in 2018 to 44% in 2023.
Part of that reflects the surge of online education after the pandemic. It also might reflect the growing number of MBA programs geared toward working professionals who want to pursue their degree online without sacrificing work and family obligations.
“We see a whole lot of students largely preferring more of the fully online experience and being OK with not having as much of the on-campus activities or on-campus kind of experience as previously,” Colby said.
Previous research from the GMAC found a growing interest in hybrid programs. A number of colleges, including The Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business, plan to launch hybrid MBA programs in 2025.
Validated Insights found that a key differentiator between students who want an online or in-person program was whether or not they take a graduate admissions test.
As of 2023, 75% of students who took a graduate admissions test like the GRE or GMAT wanted to study on-campus, and just 7% wanted to study online. That stands in stark contrast to students who didn’t take a test, 60% of whom said they preferred an online program.
Colby said that highlights how different on-campus and online MBA student populations are.
“The persona of a person that intends to or is pursuing a traditional on-campus MBA is very different than the persona of a person that is interested in or is doing an online MBA,” Colby said. “They’re two completely different populations.”
Affordability Is Key
While MBA enrollment growth might be a positive for business schools, it’s also a challenge.
There were 555 online MBA programs in 2018, but that number had grown to 732 by 2023. A number of universities have announced online MBA programs since then.
Online MBAs are struggling to stand out as more schools roll out MBA programs.
Validated Insights found that the rising number of online MBAs has meant decreasing enrollment in individual programs, although the MBA is still the third-largest degree in terms of average online enrollment per program.
The saturation in the online MBA market means schools will have to do more to attract students, Colby said.
“We see a really hyper competitive market,” Colby said. “Simply moving a program online without putting a lot of thought into the strategy and the optimization of the program isn’t a sufficient strategy for increasing enrollment. Just the fact that it is offered in an online modality isn’t really a differentiator anymore.”
That means schools have to focus on how to make their degree valuable, Colby said.
The Validated Insights report notes that 61% of business school deans think competitively priced MBAs from strong brands will lead the online MBA market.